Harry Potter: The Black Sorcerer
by NikolasdaBrave
Summary: He was the awkward child. He had found solace within the worlds of online RPGs. With the release of the first VRMMORPG Sorcery Arts Online, he had a chance. The chance to become someone in a world where no one really knew anyone. Now trapped in the death game, he may have bitten off more than he could chew. After all, 100 floors; more than a million ways to die.
1. The Beta Test

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective owners.**

 **AN: Re-wrote some things. Thanks to everyone who corrected me on some things like grammar and terminology.**

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Harrison "Harry" James Potter was an estranged child; son to Lillian "Lily" Potter and Jamison "James" Potter, both of whom worked for the Prime Minister of Britian. His father was the Head of Defense and his mother was the Deputy Prime Minister. He was the eldest of three. His younger siblings, Rosebeth (affectionately called Rose) and Charlus.

While having high societal connections; he wasn't the social type. At all. His sister and brother were popular figures in their own little circles. His sister was a carbon-copy of his mother, brains and all included, and his brother was the sporty type, much like his father had been during his younger years.

He, meanwhile, never took after any of his family. He didn't have his mother's gifted intellect and ingenuity, nor his father's natural charm and charisma. No, he was nothing like the rest of his family. He didn't have what they had, and he was fine with that.

He later found something he was good at; online RPGs. In the gaming community, he had become a legend. He had undergone many names in many games, the most recent being an RPG called "World of Swords" where he was known as Wells H. He had obliterated level after level, knowing how to grind, farm and the best ways to gain Exp as well as the best weapons.

His parents didn't know. Heck, they wouldn't have cared. He was doing well in his studies; he was one of the top students of his batch. No, it wasn't his mother's genes. It was merely the fruits born of hard work and determination.

When he was chosen as one of the lucky one thousand to be a Beta Tester for the Virtual Reality Gear-set and the newest and first VRMMORPG; Sorcery Arts Online (SAO), he was ecstatic.

The moment he had slipped into the VRG-Set , he was enthralled. A myriad of colors passed through his vision and multiple digitized screens appeared in-front of him.

Quickly deciding on a name, he spelled out Harry in his character profile's name.

He looked through the Class System and, with accordance to the game's name, chose his class as Wizard , the only other being Witch (which was for female players), and selected the accept button.

What came next rendered him clueless. On the panel (there were apparently Divisions in the game) were the words _Gryffindor_ , _Hufflepuff_ , _Ravenclaw_ , and _Slytherin_. He selected the Help option.

An info list came down:

 _Gryffindor - The Class for the brave and determined! (+10 on Strength and Damage Resistance)_

 _Hufflepuff - The Class for the loyal and hardworking! (+10 on every Stat if fighting in a party with at least two Hufflepuff members)_

 _Ravenclaw - The Class for the intelligent and witty! (Experience Points are gained easier and +5 on every Stat)_

 _Slytherin - The Class for the cunning and ambitious! (Money is earned faster. +10 on Speed and Hiding)_

Choosing which sounded best for him, he selected the Gryffindor Class. The screen disappeared and a badge with a lion in a crest appeared on his chest. Across the badge was the word "GRYFFINDOR".

The system had then asked for his Base Stats . Quickly deciding, he chose the Strength and Agility stats as his base stats, increasing them from the base of 30 to 55, not counting the Class increase. He would work on any other stats he would gain later, he thought.

He customized his avatar to look nothing like him. The avatar's hair was rather spiky, the bangs covering one of his eyes and reached down his mid-back. He changed his eyes from the vivid green that they were to a dark gray. His body type was made to resemble that of a runner's and a swimmer's; lean and built for speed. The avatar was also a good half-foot taller than him, and its skin tanner than he actually was. Feeling satisfied with his character, he selected the Finish option.

He found himself in a large town, in the middle of the town square, which was identified as Town of Salem. Saying it was large was an understatement; it was probably bigger than the city of Tokyo and London put together, but it was to be expected. Starting players would require a lot of help and the first towns would often be big ones.

He looked down at himself and noticed he wore rather baggy robes. The sleeves were rather long, and the robes itself actually touched the ground. To say the least, he looked like a monk more than a wizard.

He looked to his left and noticed a panel. A green Health Bar indicated his vitality and right bellow it was a blue bar; his Mana Points he assumed. He had played his fair share of fantasy games. Right next to it was his player name: Harry and his current level of 1. Underneath that was his Overall Stats

Health: 2000/2000

Mana: 1500/1500

He grinned. Taking off down the street, he took notice of the many shops and stands selling different items of different value at different prices. To his surprise, with the game being magic-oriented, NPCs were actually selling weapons like daggers and knives on-top of the magical items he had seen like staffs and staves.

While scouring the different shops, he did not fail to acknowledge the other Beta Testers that were doing the same just as he was. He even greeted two or three of them upon passing by.

He was amazed by all that he saw.

He suddenly came to a halt and frowned. He was getting annoyed with his current state of attire; it was too loose for him to even consider using it fight even against a slime. It was interesting; the VRG-Set actually assimilated the feeling of wearing clothing that was too big for you. The manufacturers of the game did not leave out the fact that, despite it being a game of magical nature, they had implemented the concepts of physics and real life. If you were to fall because of gravity at -9.8m/s2 IRL, then you would as well in the game.

Having spotted a clothing shop awhile back, he retraced his steps and walked into an NPC shop called Charm's Clothes, which conveniently enough, was next to a weaponry dealer.

He walked up to the NPC woman and, awkwardly, asked to buy a new set of clothing. Immediately, an item list dropped down in-front of him. He looked at the items available and pouted. They were hardly worth it. They were merely leather and cloth items. He understood that better items would come the more he leveled up and unlocked the next floors but couldn't they have given him something better than these?

"I'll purchase the robes, along with a set of pants, shirts and boots." Harry said, unsure with his decision. The NPC woman nodded and another menu popped out in-front of him. It showed the price (an astounding 674 Sickles which he guessed was the currency) and the amount of money he had (1,000 Galleons, 950 Sickles, and 2,000 Knuts two of the others he also guessed were currencies). He selected the Transact option and selected the amount he needed to pay.

She nodded and gave a quick thank you before another menu appeared in-front of him. It showed his Inventory which contained the new items. Quickly stepping into the changing rooms, he unequipped his current clothing and selected the newest one and equipped them.

His current clothing disappeared in a small of flash of blue leaving him in his undergarments, before in another flash of blue; his newest clothes took their places.

His robes were no longer so baggy, the sleeves having stopped by his wrists which were grey and black in color and stopped by his ankles; it was tied by his neck. His grey long sleeved shirt and black pants were also quite comfortable. His boots did too.

A message icon was in-front of him. Curios, he tapped the icon, receiving a Quest Notice.

 _"If you are done exploring, go to Ollivander's and go get your first wand!"_

The rewarded experience for the quest was considerable that it would bump his level up to three at the very least. He would also apparently receive his first weapon-class item. He was rather disheartened. A measly wand; well it was better than a regular stick that was for sure.

Going through his Main Menu, which was activated by swiping downwards, he looked through his Map and tagged the NPC shop named Ollivander's (which took a good minute to find out how to do). Once out of the shop, he took off running towards Ollivander's, a blue arrow pointing him in which direction to go.

Arriving at tagged shop, the arrow disappeared; Harry had opened the door and walked in. The shop itself was… messy to say the least. There was parchment ('Who still used that?' He thought) strewn about inside, half-melted candles were flickering and rows upon rows of shelves were behind a rather clean counter which seemed to go on even until the back-portion of the store.

Just as he was about to press the bell that was placed on the counter, an old man on a ladder rolled into the room from the seventh row of shelves. He had rather unruly yet tamed white hair and had a small moustache. Harry noticed that he too, wore robes in a brown and gold coloration.

Harry looked at the cursor on-top of the wizened old man's head which was yellow in coloration, denoting his status as an NPC.

The old man (Ollivander, he presumed) climbed down from his tall ladder and addressed him at the counter. "Greetings, my name is Ollivander and I am the owner of this establishment. How may I be of service?" Ollivander inquired.

Harry bowed. "As to you, my name is Harry. I am in need of a wand." He replied, doing his best not to sound snobbish. Living in a family where you would occasionally meet the Queen of England, manners were drilled into his head. Apparently, he even talked like that to a program...

At the word wand, Ollivander brightened up and a smile graced his animated features. "A wand eh?" The old NPC pressed.

He cleared his throat. "Very well then," Ollivander took out a role of measuring tape, what for, Harry did not know.

"Now, which arm are you?"

Harry looked befuddled. "I beg your pardon?" he asked.

Ollivander merely chuckled, a strange thing for an NPC to do. "A wand is not so easily purchased as one would, say a dagger. I cannot simply sell you any kind of wand. No, it must be 'in-tuned' with you." The NPC explained.

"What does that have to do with my arm?" Harry inquired.

"The wand chooses the wizard!" exclaimed Ollivander. "Everything is important as the wand is the judge and you are to be judged. Now," He unrolled the measuring tape. "Which arm are you?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm ambidextrous." He admitted. "I do hope it won't cause any problems."

"That is of no problem." Replied the elderly wand-maker. "It just merely just widens the variety which could accept you."

After measuring both of Harry's arms, and asking other questions, Ollivander seemed to ponder before he took off into the back of his shop. He came back five minutes later with five different boxes and laid them on the counter before removing their lids and revealing the different wands that each box contained.

"Now then, which wand will choose you?"

Harry grinned. This game was getting better and better.

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 **Author's Notes:**

 **VRG-Set – the equivalent of the Nervegear in Sword Art Online**

 **Now, I need people to vote on who will Harry end up with. Conditions are:**

 **1) Is not an OC (maybe I'll reconsider if you give me enough info to impress me).**

 **2) No Yaoi!**

 **3) Can be from the anime or the book. I'll think of someway to include them.**

 **4) Maybe harem if enough people vote for it.**

 **To someone who reviewed: Harry's real name is Harrison not Harry itself. He did not make a mistake in his name choice. It is merely a variant of his real name. Plus, people are more prone to use an actual name or the last name, instead of nicknames.**


	2. The Launching

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Sword Art Online. They belong to J.K Rowling and Kawahara Reki, respectively.**

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It had been three months since Harry had played the beta of Sorcery Arts Online; and ever since then, he had been craving for more. After purchasing his wand, (a holly phoenix-feather core wand for 70 Galleons) he had pushed through the first floor; reaching the first _Floor Boss_ named **Tertius, the Cerberus** within 2 weeks of playing and getting used to the system which SAO ran on.

He had also learned about the _Spell Track_. In SAO, there were numerous tomes and books, each pertaining to at least two different spells, depending on the item's level. A player would learn spells and incantations from these items by _'Absorbing'_ them. The player would then have to start learning more magic by finding more items, as the items were a one-time only use. Another option was going through the _Spell Chain_. Its function was that once a player mastered a certain spell, new ones that were higher on the hierarchy would be unlocked. This method, however, took a lot of the player's time which could have been used to level up and gain better equipment. Time; which very few players were willing to invest in.

Due to this, Harry had also learned that the Beta Testers were an impatient bunch.

He had noticed how very rudimentary the other Beta Testers were during their _Raids_. In their raid groups, which were generally made of at least 8 different parties; only 4 out of 10 of them actually had sufficient levels and equipment. Most had decided to go for numbers rather than skill; it explained why only very few actually survived a general _Floor Boss Raid_.

Harry himself had actually devoted time to mastering a spell, such as the Severing Charm called "Diffindo", as spells generally started on a stat of 100/2500.

He had also learned that Spells were categorized under several types, depending on its function; _Transfiguration, Jinxes, Charms, Hexes, Counter-Spells, Healing (Support) Spells,_ and _Curses_.

 _Transfiguration_ was rather self-explanatory. They were used to transform objects, such as pebbles, into knives (as he had witnessed a Beta Tester perform once in a 3rd Floor Dungeon). It was classified under Supplementary so he hadn't exactly put much effort into raising it. He had only raised it enough to the point that he could transform objects such as twigs into weapons when he was on low supply. However, weapons or items made from this skill only lasted for about 2 minutes before they transfigured back to what they originally were, and were far weaker than the actual items themselves.

 _Jinxes_ were classified as minor _Dark Magic_. They were more-or-less used to distract the opponent as they didn't cause much damage. The only Jinx Harry had mastered was _"Impedimenta"_ as it slowed the target for about 10 seconds, depending on the intensity of the Jinx.

 _Charms_ changed the characteristics of items. They were generally harmless like the _Levitation Charm_ ; however, an experienced practitioner could use them in offensive combat. Harry had mastered multiple of these, his favorite being the _Disarming Charm_ known as _"Expelliarmus"_ , which was rather high in the hierarchy.

 _Hexes_ were another type of Dark Magic. They were not as bad Curses but were worse than Jinxes, and were to cause moderate damage to an opponent. They were mostly used in attacks to distract enemies, like Jinxes. Harry never put much effort into raising his skills in the Hex category, and he had only mastered two hexes; The _Stinging Hex_ and the _Hurling Hex_.

 _Counter-Spells_ were also self-explanatory. These were favored by those who preferred to go on the defensive as they were generally used to reverse the effects of a spell or curse. Harry had found much use in these and mastered the _"Protego"_ and _"Finite Incantatem"._

 _Healing Spells_ were supplementary skills, as these were generally used by the class known as _Healers_ , who served as combat medics during battle. _Parties_ usually had one or two players who were well-versed in the Healing Arts. Being combat-oriented, Harry had only learned the minor healing spell called _"Episkey"_ ; which healed up about 2 percent of the overall health.

 _Curses_ were classified as as the worst type of _Dark Magic_. They were used to hurt the target in a negative-manner, such beheading. After fighting a Dark Arts practitioner mob, which generally started to spawn on the levels above the 6th floor, Harry had learned many of these spells but rarely used them. They had disgusted him; and for good reason. After all, not many were willing to see their opponent's head being blown to bits in-front of them.

Upon further research (and asking many _Information Brokers_ ), the Potter had found out about the _Sub-Class system_. These were gained after a player had reached a certain requirement, such as a _Potioneer_ needed at least a skill of 1000/5000 on the _Sub-Skill arts_.

Sub-skills were more-or-less related with skills not oriented with incantations, such as _Potions_ , _Runes_ , _Alchemy_ , and _Divination_. They were usually ignored as players focused more on their combat skills rather supplementary skills. That, and with most of the Beta Testers being an impatient bunch, not many had dived into these skills as-of yet. Harry had seen the usefulness of Potions and Runes and had spent a good 5 days leveling up a particular skill, and he had to say it was worth it.

Then there were the Guilds. Guilds were often formed during the Beta Test after beating the 2rd Floor and finishing a quest called "United We Stand" on the 3rd floor. They were mostly comprised of about 60 members at max, much more than the regular party which could only have about 8 members. Another benefit was the Bonus Share which was when guild members would receive a boost in stats every time they leveled up when they fought with a guild member or party. This made those who chose Hufflepuff for their class weep as their Class bonus was made available to other players.

After two months of playing, the Beta Testers had been told to Log-Out as the server was to be shut-down for preparation for the game's official launch a month after the Beta-Test. Each tester was given a survey to fill out for the company that created the game called _Virtual Inc_. that asked for their comments and certain things that the testers thought needed improvement or fixing. They had been allowed to keep their VRG-Sets, relieving many when they found out how much it cost; a whooping 45,000 British Pounds!

Using the one month before the official launch wisely, Harry had done research on the game itself. Whether in-game related or not, he needed to know. Knowledge was power; that he knew well.

The game was created by a scientist named Tom Marvolo Riddle, the head of the SAO Project and of Research and Development. He had graduated MIT with honors and was the Summa Cum Laude of his graduating batch.

The company that ran and created the game was called Virtual Inc. that was the leading company on technologies. Tom Riddle was a genius; he had virtually created another dimension, however, none of it would have been possible without Virtual Inc.

The eldest Potter couldn't stop thinking about it. He couldn't sleep at night, continuous tossing and turning in his bed as he remembered the experiences he felt in a world he knew existed only within his mind and imagination. In the duration of the Beta Testing, he had remained a Solo Player, never joining Parties or _Guilds_. It gave him a sense of thrill, as danger always lurked in the Dungeons he frequented every now and then. He had also picked up the Swordsman Skill upon unlocking the 2nd Floor. Don't get him wrong, his wand was useful, but during close-quarters combat; it was risky to use as spells needed incantations and had a buffering time where the player would remain immobilized for a certain period of time, depending on the spell used. This given, he learned how to wield an item called a _Longsword_ afterwards and it made quick work of many lower level mobs he encountered. By the time the Beta Test ended, he had reached level 23 and mastered 29 different kinds of spells in different categories.

He was haunted. Haunted by the feeling of the wind against his skin; the warmth he felt whenever he held his wand, and the adrenaline he felt whenever he faced a monster in battle. To him, he was more alive in that virtual reality than he ever been in the real word.

So upon the date and time for the official launch, he slipped his VRG-Set on and lied down on his bed, as the clock read 13:00 as of July 31st.

He closed his eyes and said "Link Start!" as the familiar myriad of colors passed through his vision once more.

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 **AN: This chapter served more as an information provider than anything. All the action will happen in the next chapter.**

 **By the way, still need votes on the pairings.**

 **I am also in need of a Beta Reader. PM me if you are interested.**

 **BTW, the buffering time thing is not HP canon. I needed it as it wouldn't be fair if a player with huge Mana Points could spam Unforgivables without pause.**


	3. Tom Riddle's Game

**Here is the third chapter of Harry Potter: The Black Sorcerer, hope you like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Sword Art Online.**

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When Harry had opened his eyes once more, no longer was he gazing up at the dark ceiling of his room through the glass of his VRG-Set. Instead, he was gazing upon the wide street in-front of him, once filled with only a handful of people; now filled with innumerable individuals. Each seemed to do their own; either chatting with other players present, or browsing the many stands and shops which occupied the streets.

His heart pounded in his chest, painfully so. The span of one month had been far too long; the thoughts of this virtual world constantly hanging and haunting his thoughts at every moment. Whether he was asleep or awake, it had never left the confines of his mind.

 _"I'm back in this world,"_ he thought in wonder as he gazed at the large structure that was _Hogwarts Castle_ at the center of the city. It was as large and magnificent as he had remembered seeing in the Beta. The castle had been used to shelter players and at the same time; act as a prison for the orange players and a dungeon during the Beta Test. The castle had many hidden hallways and secret rooms which was either home to many rare Items and loot; or a boss monster that would normally be found on the upper levels. He was relieved to find out that those bosses could not leave the room which they occupied; players however could.

He looked at himself and gazed at his default avatar; the very same one he had used during the Beta. It was a boon that had been granted to the Beta Testers after the two-month testing period. They were allowed to use their Beta avatars if they agreed to have their stats reset for the official launch. Many had protested, but it was to be expected. The 1,000 Beta Testers had spent a large amount of time and effort in creating their characters; including their built up stats and equipment and not many were willing to let that go. However, with much persuasion, the testers had all agreed to have their stats reset as to only keep their beta character; if only with much hesitation. Harry could understand them; he felt the same way.

Despite their avatars merely being data formatted in an algorithm; they were like an extension of their real bodies, locked away deep inside their minds. The scientists who had created the game wouldn't understand how it felt when you were the one slashing and tearing apart your opponents with your bare-hands; when you ran across the battlefield and right into the fray. It was different.

To them, destroying their avatar was as if they had destroyed a part of themselves; a part which they had grown rather fond of.

To his massive relief, the robes were not as large as they had been during the beta. They fit rather snugly against the adult frame that he had customized his character to be. His hair was still unkempt and was as long as it had been during the beta; completely untouched.

His eyes drifted to the panel visible on his left. The familiar green and blue bars were present; and next to it was his name "Harry" and his level, which had been reset back to 1. Underneath, his status points were still present; they too had been reset to what they had originally been during his first time.

Health: 2000/2000

Mana: 1500/1500

He sighed, but couldn't help but smile as he looked at the familiar surroundings that he had missed. He would have a lot of work to do to get his Stats and abilities back to the level they were before the Beta had ended; however this time, it didn't seem as painstaking as it had originally been during the first few weeks of testing. And if he had anything to say about it; this time, he would conquer all the floors they had finished in the beta in half the time.

He took of took off down the street, dodging the many players that were bustling about in the crowded pathway; a grin threatening to split his face in half. He darted down a corner, intending to quickly run-down to Ollivander's and get his wand, hopefully, back. They had discovered that, apparently, one did not need a Quest Notice to start heading for Ollivander's. A player could simply run down to the NPC's shop, purchase their first wands and still receive the Experience. He needed to get there fast as the shop would no doubt be over-run with players later; and if he were to delay any further, he would get caught in that storm. It was something he wasn't looking forward to.

Before he could continue any further down the alleyway, he was stopped in his tracks when a voice called out from behind him.

"Hey, you there!"

He stopped and turned around to see a black-haired man running towards him. He had rather unruly hair, much like his own, but was more tamed than his and only reached chin length. His face was rather roguish with a chin alike that of an aristocrat's with stormy gray eyes. He too was wearing the default black robes, with a Gryffindor badge pinned to his chest. Harry had met all the beta testers that were in the class of Gryffindor and couldn't recognize this man or his avatar; so it was rather obvious he wasn't from the Beta Test.

As the unknown man finally caught up to him, he fought to catch his breath, his shoulder's heaving and his breathing heavy; obviously winded from his run down the alleyway tracking him.

"Yes?" Harry asked.

After finally managing to get enough air back into his lungs, "From your confident stride, and your familiarity with this place; I'm guessing you're from the Beta Test, right?" the man wheezed.

"Y-Yeah," Harry nodded, unsure of what to say. It was not everyday that a player asked that question and from personal experience; he knew that online gamers could be an envious bunch.

The man suddenly grinned, all forms of fatigue disappeard from his figure. "I just started this game. Can I get you to teach me the basics?" he asked.

Upon seeing the nervous and unsure look that had graced Harry's features with his question, the man bowed. "I'm begging you! Please, I-I'll even pay you!"

Harry merely sweatdropped. "N-No, there won't be any need for that." he stammered out. This man desperate he noted. To pay someone to teach you; It was telling him that this guy didn't exactly read the manuals as he did. The manuals had come equip with everything that new players would need to know; some of the information was even supplied by former beta testers.

The man jumped and gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks!" he said, grinning. "Oh, by the way, my name is Orion; in this game at least! Nice to meet cha'!" Orion greeted cheerfully, extending his hand for Harry to shake.

The Potter inwardly praised the man; giving your real name was considered taboo in most online RPGs. It put you at risk should you reveal that kind of sensitive information in a place that nearly anyone could find out. Harry had grasped the hand that had been extended to him and shook it with a firm grip; saying his own greeting in reply.

"Nice to meet you; my name's Harry."

* * *

"A little help would be appreciated, Harry!"

Harry struggled to muffle his laughter as Orion was chased around by the mob known as the _"Grim"_ in the lower fields that surrounded the Town of Salem. The mob was a large, black shaggy dog that often prowled the fields on the first few floors. It was a low-level creature, so he had expected Orion to be able to handle it when the man had told him about MMORPGs that he had played prior to Sorcery Arts Online.

He was apparently mistaken; and outrageously so.

"This isn't funny dammit!" Orion yelped as the rabid dog nearly bit into his rear end, his wand utterly useless in his hand as he flailed about. "Get away from me you stupid mutt!"

Seemingly comprehending that the flailing player had insulted it, the insult only served to anger the mob further as it tried to take another chunk out of Orion's behind, only for the player to dodge within a mere inches.

Finally taking pity on Orion's plight, Harry walked toward the two figures and drew his wand out of its holster; directing it at the large dog that was plaguing Orion's well-being and pride.

 _"Diffindo!"_ Harry called out as the light green spell burst forth from his wand and slammed into the unsuspecting dog, cutting its health from full green, down to red. The unsuspected attack served to draw the creature's attention away from Orion and focused its _Hate_ on Harry instead.

It snarled and charged at the Potter only for another green bolt of light to slam into it; the mob shattering in bright blue polygons as its health hit zero. Harry sheathed his wand in its holster once more and took a look at the Experience he received; and was delighted to see that the experience had been enough to increase his level from 3 to 4. The money he got was a more than welcomed bonus as well.

Walking over to where the new player had decided to lay; Harry smirked at the downed form of Orion, who seemed a bit worse for wear. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." the tired player breathed out. Chuckling at the rundown player, Harry extended his hand as Orion sighed and grabbed onto the offered hand and helped himself up.

"What went wrong there?" asked Harry. "You seemed rather confident a few minutes ago when we first bought your wand."

Shortly after meeting, Harry and Orion had gone to Ollivander's and had received their wands. Harry had somehow received his holly-phoenix feather core wand once more, while Orion had received a wand of oak with dragon heartstring for its core (which cost 140 Galleons and 30 Sickles in total). Afterwards, they had gone over to Flourish and Blotts, an NPC bookshop, where a person could pick up on the starting spells; however, there was very little inside the shop itself. It was understandable as it was only the first floor.

Harry had decided to get Orion started on Charms which were the easiest type of spells to perform. Orion had verbally protested, saying that he wanted to try out the Jinxes and Hexes, maybe even a few Curses; but a single glare from Harry had shut him up real fast. How the man expect to perform those kinds of spells when he couldn't even perform the basics, he did not know. Those three types were rather difficult to cast as they were classified under Dark Magic, and considering that there was a Dark Magic Stat, which not one of them had decided to raise, it would be difficult even if they were the easier spells from the books.

After purchasing two books on the Severing Charm, Harry had led Orion down to the lower fields where he knew the easier monsters would spawn. It was here that Orion had declared that he would cut down anything in his path with his 'almighty dragon-slaying wand'; Harry then decided to direct his attention to the Grim that had spawned near them at that moment and told Orion to try the Severing Charm on the mob.

After pointing his wand at the black dog, and failing to produce the spell; the Grim had noticed a very edible looking player a few feet from where it was and decided to make a snack of Orion.

Orion had the decency to look sheepish. "I tried to cast a spell, but the thing kept moving. It's hard; I mean, I've never pointed a stick like it was some sort of weapon before!" he whined.

Harry sighed but nodded. Even he had some trouble at first too, with the incredulity of using something that resembled a stick so much in battle. "It's fine. The system that allows you to fire the spells will automatically correct your aim and ensure a hit. It's honestly hard to explain. Just remember, when you feel a pause when you're about to cast a spell, hold back for a second, then let the system system run its course." Harry explained. Honestly, it was hard to explain the feeling when casting the spells; it just came naturally to him in ways that even he could not understand.

"So I just have to let it huh?" Orion took a look at another Grim that was a few meters away from where they stood.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, even a little hesitation right before spell casting could cause a failure in the system, and not have you produce the spell at all."

Orion nodded in understanding before he pointed his wand at the mob that had tried to make a meal of him just a little while ago, and cried out _"Diffindo!"_ as a hot pink bolt of light (at this Harry snickered) burst from the tip of his wand and slammed into the Grim, shattering it into blue polygons as its health hit zero much like its predecessor.

Immediately upon the Grim's death, Orion had received the corresponding Experience and rewards. Harry took notice that Orion had leveled up as well from 3 to 4 like he had upon the destruction of the Grim.

Harry smiled and put a hand on Orion's shoulder. "So, wanna go hunt some more?"

The only response he got was a grin in return.

* * *

It was a few hours later that Harry and Orion found themselves standing at the top of a hill. Well, Harry stood anyway; Orion had decided to take a lie down after the intense farming that had just occurred. They had farmed for about 5 hours and shortly after finishing, the sun had begun to set along the horizon of the virtual world.

"Man, I sure am beat; but I'm glad I stayed up all night in line to buy this game." Orion said, his arms supporting the back of his head as he laid on them. "I'm lucky to have gotten one of the 20,000 copies."

"Yeah, I heard that it sold out within the first 3 hours of release." Harry responded. He hadn't had the need to buy the game as Virtual Inc. had sent a copy of the finished product to the Beta Testers a day before the launch. It was a gift from the company alongside the VRG-Set as thanks to the testers for their participation in the Beta.

"Sure, but you were ten times as lucky. You got to participate in the Beta!" exclaimed Orion.

Harry nodded. He was lucky; to have been selected to test the game truly was a blessing. It was not something everyone could boast about. In a way; the testers had helped make the world that they were all so engrossed in.

"Sure was... it's amazing," Harry breathed out, absently twirling his wand in between his calloused, yet nimble fingers. "A single incantation can be your gateway to new unexplored worlds. You know, when I was participating in the beta, SAO was all I could think about. I couldn't stop thinking about it becuase to me... I felt more alive here in those two months than I ever felt my whole life in the real world.

Orion chuckled, yet nodded in his understanding. They remained there for a while longer before Orion decided to stand up and stretch.

"Well, I'm gonna log out for now; I'm hungry."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, eating the food here only tricks you into not feeling hungry." he informed. He had sampled many of SAO's delicacies during the beta and woke up to find himself starving as if he hadn't eaten in days. It was during those days that his family members were rather confused on how nearly two-fourths of their stock in the refrigerator kept on disappearing. James had wrongfully blamed the non-existent rats as the cause and was tempted to even call the exterminator.

Orion merely grinned. "It's lucky I had ordered pizza for 6:30," he said, drool slightly coming from the corner of his lips. "After I'm done, I'm gonna log-back in again."

"Seems you had it all planned out huh?"

Seeing Harry smiling sadly, he quickly added "Hey, I'm meeting a couple of friends from another game later. Wanna come with? I mean you don't have to, if you don't want to."

Harry gave him a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"No problem! I'll make sure to return this favor sometime; in this world!" Orion grinned and extended a fist towards the former beta tester. Harry merely chuckled and fist bumped Orion in return.

"Well, see you later!" Orion stated as he swiped down, activating his menu screen.

"Yeah, see you." Harry turned away, beginning his intended long walk back to the starting town before Orion's next words stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Huh, there's no log-out button?"

Harry quickly turned back in surprise and activated his own menu screen. "What are you talking about? It should be right in the main men-" he then cut his statement short.

Orion was indeed right. The slot that was intended for the log-out option that he had seen in the beta was there, but not the function itself. All that was there was a blank slot.

"You don't see it either?" Harry nodded absently. Orion laughed. "Well, it is the first day of official service. There are bound to be a few bugs; pretty sure management's freaking out right now!"

"You should be freaking out too you know," the Potter then pointed towards the clock present on the main menu that currently read 17:25. "It's 6:25 in the real world."

Orion blinked, and then his faced morphed into that of despair. "MY THIN CRUST GOURMET PIZZA AND CHASSELAS!" the black haired player screamed, gripping his head in pure shock and terror.

"Have you tried calling the Game Masters yet?" Harry inquired. The Game Masters were, in all essence, the gods of the MMORPGs. They had created the games and were the ones that managed them; from the players and functions, until the quests and even the map itself. And it was available to all of them with a push of a button.

"I have, but they won't respond!" Harry took notice of his friend continuously pressing the call button that was intended to contact the Game Masters; no one was returning their calls. Orion looked towards Harry, desperation easily seen on his virtual features. "Isn't there some other way to log-out?"

Harry reviewed his memories. In the one month span, he had never heard or read of another way to log-out. After racking his brain for any answers, he replied "No. The only possible way for a player to log-out on their own is if they go through the main menu themselves."

Orion openly gaped. "That's impossible!"

Harry shook his head. He had read the manual from cover to cover, but there was nothing about an emergency log-out feature. If there were, he was pretty sure that it had been included in the manual. "I'm telling you, there was nothing written in the manuals about any functions for emergency log-outs. The only possible way we could leave as of right-now is if someone in the real world took of the VRG-Set from our heads."

Orion eyes widened. "Then can't we just take them off ourselves? I'll just rip it from my head then!"

The beta tester shook his head once more. "The VRG-Set comes equipped with nerve dampeners which ceases all the signals our brains can send our bodies that concern movement; as of right now, our bodies in the real world are in a state of hibernation." For further emphasis, Harry pointed to his nape which was where the transmitter was located; at least, that's what it said in the manual. "It's located on the nape of the neck,"

"Seriously? Then, our only option is to sit here and wait for the bug to be fixed?" Orion grumbled, obviously showing his case of dissatisfaction.

"Or wait until someone pulls the VRG-Set from our real bodies," the beta tester pointed.

"But I live alone; how about you?"

"I live with my family, they'll probably notice my absence around dinner , don't you think it's strange?" Harry asked. Seeing Orion's confused look, he explained further. "I mean it's a bug; the inability to allow players to log-out would seriously impact the game and that could cause problems for the its future. I'm not sure that Virtual Incorporated would just willingly sit back and let this happen. They are riding a lot of their profits of this game."

Orion put his fingers to his chin and nodded in understanding. "I see…"

Harry was beside himself. He decided to further voice out his thoughts. "I mean, this could have been easily fixed if they just rebooted the servers which would forcibly disconnect everyone from the game; and yet…" Harry explained, his voice filled with uncertainty. "There hasn't even been an announcement."

Anything the eldest Potter could have added was cut short when the bell on the tower located in the Town of Salem suddenly rang loudly, and two loud audible cracks echoed through the clearing; as the two players who once stood there were gone.

* * *

The Potter had suddenly found himself in the middle of what he recognized as the Great Hall within Hogwarts Castle, however, the long tables that were once laid out in the room were gone. The different banners that were present had disappeared, and the many floating candles that littered their surroundings were flickering out; players were appearing with loud cracks every second and filling out the, what-appeared to be, ever-expanding room.

" _A forced Apparation?"_ Harry theorized. _Apparation_ was an ability that could be unlocked on the 10th floor that allowed a player to 'teleport', for lack of better term, to a location that they had been to before. The mechanics behind it were hard to understand; but it was considered wandless and incantation-less magic for a reason after all. Any other further musings he might have had were cut off when his name was called out.

"Harry!"

Said person turned and saw Orion on the other side of the room, looking just as confused as he was. Quickly weaving through the crowd, he made his way over to the person he could honestly consider his first friend in the game.

"What's going on?" Orion inquired.

"I don't know…"

A sudden loud beeping interrupted all activities as every player glanced up at the ceiling and saw a text in mid-air spelling out: **WARNING! System Announcement**.

Murmurs went through the veritable sea of players before it was all silenced when the text multiplied and concealed the transparent ceiling of the Great Hall; bathing their surroundings in red.

Black smoke flowed through the cracks that were formed through the texts and the black cloud had begun to take form as acid green lightning arched through the black mass. Soon enough, the smoke cleared and what was revealed was a towering humanoid figure wrapped in black robes, floating in the air.

Multiple comments and whispers went through the crowd as they all looked at the imposing figure that stood before them.

"Attention players," spoke the figure, a male judging from tone of the voice. "Welcome to my world. My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, and as of this moment, I am currently the only person who can control this world."

Multiple gasps resounded through the crowd of players. Harry himself was shocked to the core; it was the creator of the game itself talking them!

"As I'm sure you've noticed by now," Riddle continued, the murmurs quieting down. "The log out button on the main menu is missing."

Many players opened their main menu screens, validating the truth that was being spoken by Riddle. Not one single player had the log-out button on their main menu.

"However," Riddle spoke. "This is by no means a mistake. I repeat, it is not a mistake but a feature of the true Sorcery Arts Online."

'A feature?' was the common thought between all the players. Harry's fists tightened.

"You are all unable to log out of SAO and nobody in the real can remove the VRG-Set or interrupt its operation. Should it be attempted, a transmitter from within the VRG-Set will emit a burst of microwave energy; destroying your brain, and thus ending your life."

Many gasps and cries of outrage echoed through the crowd. Those not willing to believe tried to leave the Great Hall by walking out of its large oak doors only to be stopped by a barrier.

Orion turned to Harry. "Is this guy nuts? There's no way the VRG can do that, right?" he asked, nervousness and uncertainty obvious in his tone.

Harry only grimaced. "The transmitters work like a microwave, so if the safety were to be disabled; the possibility of it destroying your brain wouldn't be impossible."

"T-Then if we cut the power-"

Harry quickly cut Orion off. "No, the VRG has an internal battery, that should the power be cut, it would still function. It's why it's rather heavy."

"But that's ridiculous! What's going on?"

Tom Riddle decided at that point to speak. "However, it is entirely possible that a player's family members or friends would ignore this warning and attempt to forcibly remove the VRG. As proof, 213 players have retired from both this world and the real world."

Several screens appeared, most being live broadcasts about the victims of the VRG-Set, and several warning to families to not attempt to remove them.

'213 people?!' though Harry, thoroughly shocked. Orion gritted his teeth.

"As you can see, news of my warning and the numerous victims are being spread worldwide. Thus, the chances of removal attempts have been minimized." Riddle told them. "I hope you will be at ease and focus of clearing the game. But I'd like you all to keep this in mind; all methods of revival will now cease to function. If your HP hits zero, your avatar will perish, and at that moment; the VRG-Set will destroy your brain."

Harry's eyes widened in shock, his mouth hung agape. Orion and many other players were in the same state. The mere thought of dying in a game and dying in real life was horrifying.

"There is only one condition you must meet to be set free; clear all 100 floors and all remaining players will be able to log-out." Riddle informed them. "You are currently on the lowest floor, if you conquer the floor's dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss; you may move on to the next floor. And if you reach the 100th floor and defeat the final boss, the game will be considered clear and all that remain will be able to log-out; I give you my word on that."

"That's insane!" Orion cried out. "Not even the beta testers were able to reach anywhere near that level!"

"And lastly, I have given you all a present in your item storages. Take a look," Riddle egged them on.

Every player, Harry and Orion included, simultaneously opened their storage and an item was indeed in there. Quicky selecting it, it materialized in Harry's hand.

 _The Mirror of Truth_

The moment it landed on his hand, he was engulfed by a blue light, as other players; some even screamed as their avatar felt like it was being torn apart and pieced back together again.

The moment the flashes died down, "You okay Harry?" asked the familiar voice of Orion.

"Y-Yeah-" Harry replied only to look in confusion at the man across him. He had Orion's voice but looked a bit different, the eyes turning a dark brown and the hair becoming rather tamed and a beard appeared on his once shaven face.

"Who are you?" both asked simultaneously.

Harry took a look at himself in the mirror in his hands and gasped. What he saw was not his avatar's reflection, but his very own 15 year old face staring back at him. Looking around, multiple players looked rather differently; some were even the opposite gender of their avatar.

"Then that means…" Harry trailed off before both he and the other man's eyes widened.

"You're Harry/Orion?!" They cried out.

"H-How…?" stammered out Orion.

"The VRG-Set…" Harry realized, voicing his discovery. "It covers our entire head with a high-density transmitter; so it can calculate what you look like."

"W-what about our height?"

"Remember the part where we had to touch ourselves allover for 'calibration'?" asked Harry. Orion nodded. "That was probably for the VRG-Set to gain data…"

Orion was shocked speechless for a moment. "But why…?"

The Potter turned to look at the imposing figure of Tom Riddle and glared. "I think he's just about to tell us that."

"You must be wondering," stated Riddle in a tone of false wonder. "'Why would I, Tom Riddle, creator of the VRG-Set, and Sorcery Arts Online, do this?'"

"I have already achieved my goals," Riddle informed. "I created this world solely for the purpose of my personal enjoyment. Now, the preparations are complete."

As he glared up at Tom Riddle, Harry gritted his teeth to the point that they gnashed together painfully, his fists tightened that his nails dug into his palms.

"This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sorcery Arts Online; players, I wish you all the best of luck." Said Riddle right before his avatar turned to smoke once more and retreated back onto the cracks of the texts and the red skies lifted as the texts disappeared one-by-one. It was silent.

Then all hell broke loose.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Finally finished! Hope you like it! Sorry if it isn't as good as I finished this late at night. I'll rewrite this chapter at some point though, so not to worry.**

 **BTW, I still need votes on who ends up with who.**


	4. Potters' Plight

**I'm back, and with a new chapter of Harry Potter: The Black Sorcerer! Thanks to everyone who favorited and reviewed my first story!**

 **Today, the rest of the Potters make their debut! With the tragedy of Sorcery Arts Online, I'm sure that today some tears will be shed, and not just for the characters. ;)**

 **I also included a bit of humor in this chapter, at the expense of James Potter, hehe.**

 **By the way, current poll results are:**

 **Harem: 2**

 **Luna: 2**

 **To Inmiru: It's (the names thing) real life, at least, based on personal experience. Thanks as well, I'll go change the buffering time to channeling time. Kudos to you!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Sword Art Online. They belong to J.K. Rowling and Kawahara Reki, respectively.**

* * *

James Potter, the Head of National Defense for Great Britain, could claim that he was not afraid of anything. If his friends from his high school years would tell others about the time when he ran away from a hoard of fangirls, he would vehemently deny it.

He had been born into an affluent family with a very high societal status. As a result, he was home schooled by his parents and professional tutors instead of going to a regular school until he reached his 11th birthday. It was during this when he was finally given the chance to join a school; and **(surprise, surprise…)** it was a fancy prep school for the rich and the _very_ gifted.

During his school years, he was a rather open and free-spirited boy who could often be mischievous; a fact that his former professors could attest to. He had attained a penchant for pranks and practical jokes; a fact that his parents did not easily accept. The only insurance that they had was that he was the top student in his batch, not that he was really trying to be.

He had found a group of loyal friends who stuck by him through his school years. Despite not having met each other again for years after graduation; James still tried to keep up with his friend's lives, his job and his family.

It was during his 3rd year that he found woman of his dreams in the form of Lily Evans; not that he knew it at any rate. The young woman was new student at that time; which was evidently seen as she looked around the campus, confused as to her surroundings. At that time, he had tried to honestly help the new student out of the goodness of his heart; not that he minded ogling her when she wasn't looking. Lily Evans did have a nice looking bum…

Over the course of that school year, he found himself enamored with the bright girl that had somehow wormed her way into his life. She was the person that he could easily consider his best friend. Lily was bright, and exceptionally so; had the temper to match her vibrant red hair and the brightest and most dazzling emerald eyes he had born witness to. If he were to be honest with himself at that time, he knew that what he loved the most about Lily Evans were her emerald hue eyes.

He spent most of his time with her; either in the library studying, elsewhere doing something else, or just simply chatting. His group of friends had at one point pulled him aside and told him that they supported him; not that James had understood the context of _that_ particular conversation until later in his life.

It was during the summer break after that school year that he horrifyingly discovered that he was attracted to the fiery persona that was Lily Evans. When he told his friends about it, they had all snorted and told him "Took you long enough!" in unison.

He had face-vaulted rather hard afterwards.

It was the following school year that he had decided to finally pursue Lily Evans, not that his parents minded. They actually supported him, which confused him to no end; that is until they told him that she would be a perfect match for him when they had found out that she had over-taken him as the top student of the batch. It didn't help when his father pulled him aside and told him that she was a good catch, then proceeded to tell him about "the bird's and the bees". That particular conversation had left him steaming red afterwards.

He decided to take a leaf out of the book of movies during his, honestly pitiful, attempts. He had tried slipping a letter from a secret admirer into her locker, key word being _tried_. When he did try, he did not know that she had switched classes and had swapped lockers with another batch mate. The male student that had received that particular letter was horrified when he discovered a letter of admiration from a fellow male student in his locker. The poor young adult had passed out right in the hallway and was rushed to the ER. The man was left homophobic even when he had graduated already.

His next attempt was to pull on her hair. He had read in a book somewhere that if a boy pulled on the hair of a girl, it meant that they liked that particular girl. He received a bloody nose for his efforts, courtesy of a fist to the face from one angry Lily Evans.

Another obstacle, other than his pathetic attempts at wooing, were Lily's sister and friends, particularly one named Severus Pius Snape. Every time he would go to Lily's home, which he found the address when he had walked her home one day; he would be told that Lily was not home by her older and very protective sister named Petunia. That or he would be chased down the street by said older girl carrying a rolling pin, screaming bloody murder. (1)

At school, she was shadowed by her close friend Severus. The taller boy had foiled his plans more than once; either by sticking closer to her or alerting Lily's growing base of fans of a 'stalker' that shadowed the red-haired girl at school. Most of the male student body had become a wall of bodyguards during those situations. (2)

He had even warned him with the threat of a warrant of constraint from the police. James decided to watch out for the lanky boy whenever he was around Lily ever since then.

The rest of the year was filled with humorous, failed attempts, violent outbursts, and occasional screams of pain. The last one first occurred when James had accidentally followed Lily in the dressing room. He was sure that he had suffered brain damage during that particular incident. Now if he could only remember _why_ he had walked in there…

It was during their graduation that he had confessed to Lily. She had laughed at him, and had given him a peck on the cheek; telling him that she knew all along and just wondered when he would man up and just tell her, instead of continuing his obvious hilarious attempts at giving her hints.

After 2 years following their graduation from college, they had married on February 14. Despite going to different schools because of their difference in career choice, the two had managed to maintain their relationship. James had learned that distance did indeed make the heart grow fonder. Lily had learned how irritating James Potter could be when he constantly bombarded her Facebook with messages every single hour of every single bloody day.

Their wedding was no big bash. It was a small wedding ceremony with only their family members and closest friend attending. His best man was his oldest friend Frank Longbottom and Petunia had been the bridesmaid.

It was a year and a half after their marriage that they had received terrible news that James's older brother and wife had died in a car crash. All they left behind was a young baby that had been orphaned at the age of 1 year and 4 months; a baby named Harrison James Potter, son of the deceased Edward Potter and his spouse Rosebeth Kelly.

They had adopted the young orphan at the behest of Lily. The red haired woman had met the deceased couple and hit it off with them a few minutes after meeting. Rosebeth Potter nee Kelly was alike Lily Evans in many ways including her emerald eyes; the only difference was that she had decided to take the path to becoming a doctor instead of a politician like Lily. Edward Potter was like her husband in nearly everything. It helped that his parents always made family the number one priority at all times and had James adopt the child.

So adopt him they did. They had raised Harry as if he were their own child; spoiling him and making him feel loved at all times. A few months after Harry had turned 6, Lily had joyously found out that she was pregnant. An overjoyed James Potter had run around the neighborhood screaming in rejoice. Harry had laughed and asked them if he was going to be a big brother. Lily had nodded and hugged the young boy. Nine months later on August 25, a young healthy boy named Charlus Edward Potter had been born.

A year and a half afterward on April 24, Lily had given birth to another baby, a girl this time, named Rosebeth Lilian Potter. It was during this when Harry, in all his curiosity, had asked his parents how babies were made. The conversation had ended when an embarrassed James had told Harry that babies were brought by storks from cabbage patches.

James was content. He had a good life; a wonderful family, a fully functional job and he still had his whole life ahead of him. Yes, he wasn't afraid of anything.

Today was a different case altogether. This time, it wasn't assassination attempts from his job, a hoard of fangirls; or even an irate Lily Potter nee Evans armed with a frying pan.

It was his eldest child.

He had been finishing paperwork, ready to head home for dinner, when his secretary had burst into the room, telling him to meet with the Prime Minister for an emergency meeting.

The meeting had informed them about the horrifying events that had occurred earlier that day, an incident caused by the renowned Tom Marvolo Riddle; the VRG-Set and the game known as Sorcery Arts Online where as many as 20,000 players were now trapped within. James had nearly screamed in outrage and was about to have a full-blown panic attack.

It was after that particular meeting that the Potter patriarch had frantically pulled out his cellphone and called his wife, who he was sure to be home right now. He remembered that their eldest had done the Beta for that game and was given a finished copy the previous day. When he realized it, he had become pale faced.

As he waited for his wife to pick up, he hurriedly ran to his car to get home quickly, all the way praying to any deity that he was not too late.

* * *

Lily Potter nee Evans had been having a wonderful day when things had taken a turn for the worst. She had left work early, requesting a half-day which the Minister had granted, and had arrived home on that weekend at 5:00 to find her two children out and playing with their friends, and her eldest adopted son in his room with that helmet over his head. She then reminded herself that today had been the launch for the game known as Sorcery Arts Online that Harry had beta-d for two month prior.

She then proceeded to make their dinner of stewed salmon, roast beef and vegetables. Afterwards, she then decided to call her children inside to have dinner. Rosebeth and Charlus had obeyed and come inside after bidding farewell to their friends. Lily took a look at the clock which read 6:25 and frowned. Normally, fifteen minutes earlier, her husband would have arrived already but paid no attention. He was the Head of Defense and he would often be called into emergency sessions. Her eldest should have come down from his room already as well. She called him out again only to receive nothing in response.

Deciding to go to his room, she walked up the stairs and quietly stepped into Harry's bedroom. Lily had found her eldest still on his bed, appearing to be asleep with that helmet still over his head. She frowned and walked over to him and gently poked his side.

"Harry, sweetie; it's dinner time." She told him. "Dinner's ready, everyone's waiting."

Harry did not even stir from his apparent slumber.

After trying for a few more seconds, she resolved to simply unplugging the machine from its socket. Just as she reached for the chord and was about to pull it, her cell phone rang from her pocket.

Stepping back, Lily fished out her phone and saw her husband had called her. Quickly answering, she put the phone on her ear.

"LILY!" cried the voice of her spouse from the other end. Lily cringed at his loud tone, her ears numbing from the intensity of his voice.

"James, please don't shout! I can hear you quite well you kno-" Lily scolded him before she was cut-off by her frantic sounding husband.

"Lily, where's Harry?! Did you do anything to him?!"

"No, he still has that helmet on his head. I was just about to unplug it-" she informed her husband only for his shout to stop her mid-sentence.

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" James yelled from the other end of the line. "TURN THE TV ON LILY!"

Grabbing the remote for the television in Harry's room that was on his nightstand, she pointed it at the TV and pressed the power button, turning the device on.

What she saw on-screen horrified her to no end. All stations were broadcasting the events and tragedies that surrounded the game Sorcery Arts Online. The headlines informed viewers to not take-off, or unplug the VRG-Set from victims and were to call emergency services immediately.

Lily was beside herself; she was horrified! She looked to her son who was still strapped to the device on his head, looking so peacefully asleep.

She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as tears leaked from her eyes, trailing down her face. 'A-and, I-I was j-just about to unplug it!' she thought in absolute revulsion.

If her husband hadn't called her that precise moment, she shuddered to think what would've happened should she have pulled the plug.

'I could've killed him!' Lily thought in dismay. She shakily picked up cell phone and told her husband to call emergency services as she would try to do the same and keep their pseudo son stable.

All this happened as Tom Riddle announced to the trapped players of Sorcery Art Online, without Harrison being any the wiser.

* * *

 **Petunia hated Lily for her magic in HP canon. So, assuming that she didn't have magic, and was a 'normal' person, Petunia wouldn't really have any real reason to hate her out of jealousy. I pictured her to be a protective sister as shown in Harry Potter the Deathly Hollows where she wanted to protect Lily during their younger years.**

 **Snape and Lily broke off their friendship when Snape called her a mudblood during their fifth or sixth year. Since there are no pureblood supremacists, I think Snape would have finally had the guts to tell Lily how he felt. However, should Lily reject him (which indeed happened in this story), they were good friends and would remain so. Snape is also Rosebeth's godfather FYI.**

 **AND DONE! BTW, I will still rewrite this chapter so again not to worry!**

 **Now, Harry's heritage has finally been revealed! First chapter was told in general perspective. Harry is indeed aware of his heritage, like Kirito, and much like him decided to close himself off from the rest of his family.**

 **Please, leave a review. It won't hurt to just scroll down and type a small review in. I still need votes on the pairings!**

 **Here are the choices for the pairings:**

 _ **Daphne Greengrass**_

 _ **Cho Chang**_

 _ **Nymphadora Tonks (maybe)**_

 _ **Luna Lovegood**_

 _ **Lavander Brown**_

 _ **SAO girls (maybe)**_

 _ **Hermione Granger**_

 _ **Ginny Weasley (canon)**_

 _ **Hannah Abott**_

 _ **Susan Bones**_

 _ **Tracey Davis (any other girl you can name, and I'll think about it)**_

 **Also, anyone who can guess who Orion really is will get a cookie!**


	5. Tertius the Cerberus Lord

**I'm NikolasdaBrave and with a new chapter of Harry Potter: The Black Sorcerer!**

 **Harry's back and he's gonna kick some ass!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Sword Art Online. They belong to J.K. Rowling and Kawahara Reki, respectively.**

* * *

It had been a month ever since the death game that was Sorcery Arts Online had started. And over the course of that one-month period, more than 2000 players had died; many being former beta testers who tried to solo-the first floor. Besides the many casualties, another factor that served to lower the morale of the many individuals fighting for freedom was that even one player had yet to even find the Boss Room of the first floor.

Even Harrison Potter, who was also a former beta tester, had yet to find the Boss Room. The location had changed from where it was originally located during the beta; a fact that had frustrated the black-haired teen to no end.

He was currently and once again like in the beta, a Solo Player. These types of players were easy to recognize as they were the kind of players who never partied with any other individuals. Most of the beta tester, including Harry himself, fell under this category.

While he did prefer to fight alone most of the time, the fact that he was indeed alone in a death game hurt him. He had left his first friend, the player named Orion, back in the starting town. Harry remembered the day that Tom Riddle had trapped the players in this game of death and the aftermath that followed.

It was an event that left a bitter-sweet taste in Harry's mouth.

* * *

 _After Riddle's announcement in the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle, the crowd had broken loose and had stampeded like a herd of disturbed cattle. Players were screaming in outrage; others had fainted and others even collapsed screaming in horror._

 _It was during the chaos that was wrought by confusion that Harry had grabbed Orion and high-tailed it out of the Great Hall and into one of the many hallways that led to the exit of Hogwarts._

" _What's the deal Harry!?" demanded an outraged Orion._

 _Harry gave Orion an impassive stare. "You heard that man Orion, much like I did; we all did. I don't think that all of us would have envisioned the same thing."_

" _Your point being?!"_

 _Harry's fist tightened. "Get it through your head Orion!" Harry screamed back. "T-this is no game anymore! R-Right now, this is our reality! If we die here, we die in reality; don't you get that?!"_

 _Orion was taken aback by Harry's outburst. Over the course of the day that Orion had gotten to know Harry, the player was a very patient individual. He had not lost his temper even on the many occasions that he had done something which would have made other's blow their top._

" _W-what?" stammered Orion._

 _Harry sighed and looked to the sky. "If we want to survive in this world, getting stronger is an absolute must." The beta tester told him. Orion nodded shakily._

 _Harry then gave him a stern look. "Listen up, I'm heading to the next town as soon as possible; you should come with me."_

 _Orion looked confused. "Why?"_

 _Harry opened up his map. "The resources in an MMORPG; in other words, the money and EXP, we can receive are limited in number. And I'm sure that the fields around Salem will soon be wiped clean of mobs, not counting Hogwarts Castle. The best course of action would be to quickly move to the next town." Harry told him, his finger tracing a route towards another town. A trail leading from Salem to next town appeared on the map when Harry pointed to the red dot on the map. "The perk of being a former beta tester is that I know the way there and any dangers we might encounter. So even if I'm only level 5, we'll make it there safely."_

" _Why not Hogwarts?" inquired Orion_

" _That place is a death trap," Harry solemnly spoke. "It may house good rewards, but the monsters there are more powerful than any Floor Boss."_

 _Believe him, he had tried. A particular boss named **Sephir the Basilisk** was the first boss level monster he had faced in the pathways of that castle. He had fought it in one of Hogwarts's dungeons, one named the Chamber of Secrets. Despite its level being 15, its stats were much too high for it to be a simple dungeon boss. He had died five minutes after engaging the snake in battle, and respawned later._

 _Too bad he didn't have that liberty this time around._

" _So how about it?"_

 _Orio gazed at him with sadness evident in his eyes. "I was in line all night to buy SAO with friends that I met in another game," Orion told him with worry. "I'm sure they're all over there back in the hall."_

 _Harry refused to meet his gaze. 'I can manage with only Orion, maybe one more; but two others…' the Potter thought angrily._

" _Sorry." Orion's voice broke him from his train of thought. "I can't have you keep looking after me like this. So don't worry about me and head to the next town. I mean, in the last game, I played I was the leader of my guild." Orion shot him a grin and gave him a thumbs up._

" _I'll be fine with the tricks you taught me!"_

" _I see…" Harry said bitterly. "Then I'll leave you here. If anything happens, send me a message."_

 _Orion gave him a nod. Harry returned that with a nod of his own. "Then… see you, Orion."_

 _With that, Harry ran down the hall, refusing to turn around and gaze at another person he had abandoned. He didn't know how long he was running, but he soon found himself out of the safe walls of Salem and running down the road; away from Salem… away from Orion._

 _A mob known as a "Winter Wolf" spawned infront of him and upon seeing him, the hostile mob snarled and opened its maw. Harry drew his wand and cried "DIFFINDO!" with all his might, channeling his rage into that one spell._

 _A bright green light burst from his wand and caused the mob to shatter with one hit as Harry cried out in anguish._

* * *

It had been a month since then and during that one month, he had reached level 27. He had mastered 5 different spells, his specialty being the Severing Charm. He had maxed it out as it was the one spell he regularly used in mob battles. His health had reached 4,700 and his Mana had increased to 3,900.

He had also discovered that the quest which gave you the Swordsman Skill had been moved from the 2nd floor onto the 1st floor. He had been quick to capitalize on it and had gained the skill a day later. The quest was to break a boulder with a sword; a boulder that would only lose about 50 HP from its health of 500 on 3 hours of continuous hitting. Harry was never so happy to finally end a quest.

He had increased the skill from 100 to 450/3500 stat after he had purchased a longsword from an NPC blacksmith. He would often use it against the lower level mobs that he would fight in dungeons; slowly but surely increasing his skill with the blade.

Today, however, was a different story. This day was when they would finally hold a strategy meeting; for the Floor Boss of the First Floor.

* * *

Meeting in a small stadium with a handful of players, Harry sat down on one of the benches as one of the players upfront stepped forward and introduced himself. He was a tall male, 17 years old by the looks of it, with chestnut brown hair and warm brown eyes. He was wearing what looked to be leather-hide armor underneath his robes, which had brown shoulder paddings. On his chest was a yellow badge that housed a badger with the word _'HUFFLEPUFF'_ emblemized across it.

He clapped to gain the crowd's attention and coughed. "Thank you everyone for responding to my invitation!" He cheerfully exclaimed. "My name is Cedric, and my class is, informally, chief warlock!" He thumped his chest for further emphasis. Laughs rang through the crowd.

"What the hell is with that class?"

"There is no job system in this game!"

"Is this meeting supposed to be a joke too?"

Cedric then motioned for the members of the audience to keep quiet. "Today, in the highest room of this floor's dungeon," Cedric conveyed to them; the light and joking tone having disappeared from his voice. "My party and I have discovered the Boss Room."

Gasps of disbelief and surprise rang through the assembly.

"Seriously?" some players voiced.

Cedric decided to continue. "By defeating this floor's boss and reaching the 2nd floor… we can show to everyone back in the Town of Salem that this death game can be cleared!" Cedric proclaimed, his voice ringing loudly and clearly through the assembly. "It is our responsibility to do so! Don't you agree?!"

Simultaneously, all players nodded in Cedric's direction. Then all started clapping, cheering and some even whistled as the man who was bringing hope stood up front. Harry smiled at the player from where he sat, his head supported by his hand.

"For starters, we're going to split up into parties of six." Cedric continued. "The floor boss can't be defeated with simple parties. We'll need to assemble multiple parties to form a Raid Group!"

Harry was shaken out of his thoughts with a sudden jolt when Cedric said this and looked around hurriedly. He saw all those present had already begun to form their separate parties, and before he could do anything about it, all parties had already been formed; leaving him no one to join.

He scanned the crowd and, sitting a couple of feet away from him, was another player wearing a black hooded cloak. Quickly sliding over to the hooded figure, Harry spoke "You got left out too?"

The figure shook its head.

"I wasn't left out." The person spoke, a female judging from the sound of the voice. "The others already seemed to be friends so I didn't want to intrude."

Harry nodded. "So you're a solo player?" he asked. "How about partying with me then?"

The girl inclined her head towards his direction. He, Harry, quickly spoke "He just said that the boss can't be fought alone, right? It'll just be for this once."

The hooded player seemed to hesitate before she nodded. Quickly opening his menu screen, he selected the _"Create Party"_ option and sent the _"Invite"_ to the player across him. Seeing the invite pop out in-front of her, she hesitantly pressed the "Accept" button.

The result was immediate. Another health and mana bar appeared underneath Harry's own. He took a closer look at his newest party member's info and saw the name "Daphne" right next to it.

It was a few seconds later that Cedric the Hufflepuff decided to speak up once more. "Alright! Are you guys done partying?" he asked. "Now-"

"Hold it!" Cedric was then cut off from a shout that came from right above them. All present looked back and saw a player standing there, right before he jumped down and landed in front.

"The name's Michael!" the newly arrived player told them. He had lanky black hair, was wearing leather plate armor and had a green badge that contained a snake with the word _"SLYTHERIN"_. "And before we do anything, I have something to say to a certain few in this crowd!" At Cedric's nod, Michael continued.

He looked towards the assembled players and spoke in a loud voice, "I'm positive that there are some of you that should be apologizing to those who have died so far!" the young adult voiced in utter distaste. At his exclamation, Harry's chest tightened painfully as he gripped his knees.

"Michael, the people you're referring to are the beta tester, am I right?" Cedric inquired.

Michael gave a stiff nod. "Of course I am!" he shouted. "On the day this crappy game started, all the beta testers disappeared, abandoning all us beginners!"

"They monopolized the good hunting grounds and profitable quests, prioritizing themselves over others! And afterwards, they had the gall to feign ignorance for doing so!"

Michael gave a low snarl as he looked towards the crowd once more. "Some of you are sure to be beta testers!" He exclaimed in a voice of rage. "We should have them kneel in apology and hand over the money and items they have been hoarding! I cannot and will not trust my life with such people, and they shouldn't trust me either!"

Harry was beside himself, having an internal conflict as to what to do, before a man in the crowd raised his hand and stood up. He was rather tall, a good 5'7, and wore brown robes. Underneath which he wore a leather tunic and a Gryffindor badge was pinned across his chest.

He walked over to Michael and gave him a hard look. "My name is Romulus." He spoke. "Michael, you're basically saying that the beta testers should take responsibility for the many deaths and provide compensation because they didn't babysit us new players, am I correct?"

"Y-yeah, what off it?"

Romulus reached into his pouch and pulled out a small brown book. "You received this book didn't you? It was provided for free at the item shop."

Michael gave a hesitant nod. "Yeah, so what?"

"This guidebook was distributed by former beta testers." Romulus told him in a stern tone. He turned towards the crowd and addressed them. "Listen everyone, this information was made available to everyone, yet many players died. I thought that the purpose of this meeting was that we were going to plan on how to fight the boss using what we learned from these deaths."

Murmurs of agreement went through the crowd. From where he sat, Harry sighed in relief. It was an act that wasn't missed by his companion.

With the crowd won over, Romulus turned to Michael and said player snorted and stalked off before sitting down at one of the seats. After resolving the problem; Romulus had walked to where he sat before and plopped himself down.

Cedric cleared his throat. "In regards to that guidebook, its newest version has mentioned the information about this floor boss." Cedric told them, his own guide book in his hand. Multiple whispers went through the crowd as Cedric began to read from the book.

"The boss is called **Tertius the Cerberus Lord**. He has mobs known **Hellhounds** **of the Underworld** that guard him." Cedric read. "His arms consist of two double-bladed axes and two shields, given that he has four arms. When the last of his four health bars becomes red, he switches into a two-handed sword called a Claymore. His attack pattern also changes."

"Impressive…"

"That information is pretty thourough…"

The Hufflepuff up-front shut his book close. "That concludes today's meeting. Lastly, regarding item distribution; the money is automatically distributed, EXP goes to the party that lands the last hit, and items belong to whoever gets them." Cedric stated his voice stern. "Agreed?"

All players looked towards one another, and nodded their consent.

Cedric gave a nod back. "Okay, we'll leave at ten in the morning tomorrow." He shouted. "You are all dismissed!"

* * *

The night was filled with sounds of merry making and partying, as players celebrated their step closer to gaining their freedom. Among this, our protagonist scoured through the town, looking for his mysterious party member. He eventually found her sitting by the fountain alone; eating what looked to be stale bread.

"Tastes pretty good, doesn't it?"

The hooded player turned to look in his direction. "Mind if I sit here?" Harry gently asked. The girl hesitantly nodded. Harry took a seat next to her; said girl scooching over a few feet away from him.

She looked at him. "Do you really think it's good?"

Harry took a bite from his own pastry, savoring the sweet taste that filled his mouth as he bit into the warm bread. "Of course; I've been eating one daily since I arrived here." He told her, before he pulled out a small jar from his inventory and placed it between them. "But I do like to change it up a little,"

She looked the jar over before giving it a small tap. A small glow enveloped her fingers after she had touched the jar. She looked at Harry before he motioned towards his own bread. She blinked and looked at her bread and traced the surface, cream appearing on the area she had traced.

"Cream…?" she asked, unsure on what to say. She looked towards Harry and saw do just as she had done before the jar dissolved into pixels. She watched him as he bit into his own bread before she looked her bread over, and gave it a small bite.

Harry observed his party member from where he sat, amused as she froze over and seemed to be processing the taste that had enveloped her taste buds. He then blinked in shock when a few moments later she devoured the bread in three bites in her apparent hunger and gave a sigh of satisfaction.

Getting over his shock, Harry spoke to her. "It's the reward for a quest called "The Cow Strikes Back" from the previous town." The Potter said to her. "If you want, I can tell you how to beat it."

The girl shook her head from beneath her hood. "I didn't come here to eat good food." She stated in a bland tone.

Harry blinked at her and the asked "Then why did you? This place is rather known for its good pastries."

She clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white. "So that I could still be me; I would rather survive and die as myself rather than slowly rot away in an inn back in the first town."

Harry said nothing as she continued her monologue. "Even if I end up dead at the hands of a monster, this game… this world is something I won't give in to. No matter what."

Harry gave her an impassive glance yet he understood. Most of the players had chosen to stay back in the Town of Salem, slowly rotting away as they gradually lost their minds to the game that had consumed them. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Finishing the last of his bread, Harry looked at her and said "At the very least, don't die tomorrow. I don't want the death of a party member hanging over me."

Ouch, inwardly Harry winced. It hadn't been his intention to come off sounding cruel or indifferent to her plight. He never was good with words, most of it being misunderstood.

The girl said nothing as they sat on the ledge of the fountain on that night.

* * *

It was 10:00 the next day that all the players had met up at the west entrance of the town called Heimburg they were currently in. All players, including Michael and his party which surprised many, had brought their weapons with them. Harry took notice of the daggers that some of the players wielded and inwardly gulped. They looked rather sharp, and while he did have a sword, it didn't help when he pictured the players that were armed with those going after him should they figure out that he was a beta tester.

As they walked towards the spiraling tower that housed the dungeon, Harry went over their battle plan with Daphne; smoothing any details he may have overlooked.

"Let's review the plan." Harry reviewed her, his tone having been repeated since earlier. "We loners are to target the guard mobs known as Hellhounds so as to keep them of the Raid Group."

Daphne nodded. "I know,"

"I'll knock them back with the Knockback Jinx ' _Flippendo'_ , so I want you to Switch in at that moment." Harry told her. Daphne looked confused, although he couldn't really tell from underneath that hood of hers.

"Switch?" she asked curiously.

Harry look to her in surprise. "Is this your first time in a party?" he asked her. At her nod, the black-haired beta tester's head dropped and he sighed before he regaled her onto what exactly Switching was.

Switching was a technique used in parties; where-in members would attack a mob, then have another player switch with them and perform another attack. It was useful especially in battles with a lot of players. The technique allowed massive combos that it was borderline unfair.

It was half an hour later that they had reached the top of the spire and stopped in-front of the boss room. Cedric turned to them and said "I have only one thing to say everyone; let's win!"

The group cheered as Cedric opened the door of the boss room as the Raid Group cautiously walked inside; looking around for any hidden dangers that lurked in the dark space that was dimly lit with a few torches that were hung on the walls. It was then a player pointed towards the other end of the room, where a huge hulking figure could be seen.

It had three heads and four arms, each carrying either an axe or a small shield called a buckler. It was all brown in color and had a red cursor on-top of its heads; signifying that it was a hostile mob with an ID underneath.

 _ **Tertius the Cerberus Lord**_

The floor boss jumped from where it sat right into the middle of the room, roaring in great intensity as the room brightened up. From where it stood, multiple Hellhounds spawned around it. The boss indeed did have four health bars; the Hellhounds having only two.

The Hellhounds looked like small Cerberus dogs with ram horns, each in the color black. They too had red cursors above their heads.

Cedric gave battle-cry as he cried out "Commence the attack!" before all players gave a battle cry of their own, drawing their wands and started casting spells at the opposing mobs as said boss and its guardians charged at the group of players who were fighting for their freedom.

* * *

It was a few minutes later that the Raid Group found themselves with the advantage of sheer numbers. The number of players overwhelmed the boss as they surrounded it; each casting their own different spells as different colorful bursts of light lit up the room.

Cedric had taken charge the moment the battle had begun; giving commands to the other players and parties that were constantly switching between attacking, healing or blocking the boss's attacks. The commander was barking orders at every player that was present; he didn't forget to remind the other groups of their jobs of keeping the Hellhounds away from the rest of the Raid Group.

" _FLIPPENDO_!"

As Harry cast the spell, a blue burst of light erupted from his wand and impacted the Hellhound that he was currently locking horns with. The mob was taking turns between charging at him, attempting to take a bite out of him with either of its three heads' mouths or shooting fireballs at him.

The spell impacted the Hellhound with great velocity, sending the three headed dog into the air, losing some HP in the process. Before the dog could capitalize on his temporary restraint from firing the spell, Harry called "Switch!" before Daphne entered the fray; her wand drawn and ready.

She pointed her wand at the mob, quickly crying out a spell of her own. " _Diffindo_!" she cried as her own bright pink light erupted from the tip of her wand as she swiped downwards with her wand in a slashing movement; something akin to that of using a sword or dagger. The effect was immediately seen.

A giant cut appeared on the mob right before it shattered as Daphne's spell caused its health to drop to zero. Harry looked on amazement at his partner's performance.

'I thought she was a beginner' he thought in awe, and slight admiration. 'Yet her dexterity is incredible; I can barely keep up with her spell casting.'

Harry nodded towards her before he engaged another Hellhound that had attempted to take him by surprise by attacking him from behind. He was quick to avoid the heads that would no doubt take a chunk out of him; and he sent another Knockback Jinx in retaliation.

A loud roar from the boss suddenly caught everyone's attention. As all players directed their attention to the Cerberus Lord as it snarled at the players the moment its last health bar hit the red zone; then it was quick to dispose of its axes and shields by tossing them away.

Michael from where he stood smirked and said "Looks like that information was right," his own wand drawn as he breathed heavy.

"Stand back!" Cedric suddenly ordered, confusing many in the group, Harry included. "I'll go!" The Hufflepuff suddenly rushed forward, and pointed his own wand at the boss, a bright light engulfing the tip of his wand as he readied a rather powerful spell.

'This is the part where we were supposed to surround the boss.' Realized Harry as he looked towards their leader. 'What the hell is he doing?'

Then things suddenly took a turn for the worst. Harry watched as the boss reached behind it and drew a large sword the size of an executioner's blade. His eyes widened as he watched the boss draw not a Claymore, but a giant sword called a Zanbato of Japanese origin.

'THAT'S NO CLAYMORE; IT'S A ZANBATO! IT'S DIFFERENT FROM THE BETA!' he realized in horror. Quickly sending the Hellhound he was facing away, he yelled towards the Raid Group "STOP! JUMP BACK AS FAR AS YOU CAN!"

His warning fell upon deaf ears as he was too late as the boss swung the large blade at Cedric in a wide arch, cutting the player from his spell casting as he was sent flying into the air. The boss was quick to capitalize as when a player was in the air, they were usually rendered helpless, and took another slash at Cedric; the young adult cried out in pain as he was sent towards the other end of the room.

"Cedric!" multiple members of the Raid Party cried out in worry right before the boss decided at that moment to appear behind them and roared in a fit of fury.

Harry rushed over to where Cedric lay on the ground and knelt beside the injured player, quickly taking a Healing Vial from his pouch. "Why did you try to do it alone?" asked Harry, handing the potion to Cedric before the young adult stopped him from doing so as his health dropped to zero.

Cedric looked at him with a solemn look and spoke "You were a beta tester weren't you?" he asked in a weak and shaky voice. "I'm sure you knew what I was doing."

Harry's eyes widened as a gasp of surprise escaped his mouth as the revelation registered in his mind. "You were after the rare item that comes with the Last Attack Bonus…" he stated in surprise. "You were a beta tester too?"

Cedric gave him a weak smile. "Please… defeat the boss…" Cedric pleaded to him, his form glowing brighter. "For everyone," just as the Hufflepuff burst into pixels as he died right in-front of Harry.

'Ever since this game started, all I ever cared about was my own survival.' Harry bitterly thought as he looked at the spot where Cedric once laid. 'But Cedric, even though you were a beta tester, never abandoned the other players. You became a leader, and fought brilliantly! You tried to do what I could not…'

Strengthening his resolve to fulfill Cedric's dying wish, Harry stood up and gripped his wand tighter as he looked towards the boss. He knew what he had to do, and he was going to fulfill Cedric's dying wish; it was the least he could do. A flutter of her cloak, Daphne had joined him at his side. She gazed at him and said in a firm tone "I'm going too,"

Harry nodded right before they dashed at the boss. "We'll still use the same strategy that we used for the Hellhounds."

"Understood," she replied, drawing her own wand once again.

The boss, upon seeing them, raised its arms; preparing another wide swing that was sure to hit one of them if it completed its arc. Quickly aiming his wand, Harry shouted " _Flippendo_!" as the familiar blue burst of light erupted from his wand once again. The spell impacted the boss, sending it tumbling backwards as it suffered from the stun effect of the Jinx.

"Switch!" Harry called to Daphne. The amount of Mana he had used for that spell was draining as the boss was much larger than a Hellhound and would not be so easily sent back by a simple Knockback Jinx.

Daphne quickly replaced him, her own wand at the ready. In a sudden rage, the boss overcame the stun effect and looked ready to go on a rampage, starting with the player that was in-front of it.

"Daphne!" Harry shouted, and just in time. She seemed to stumble before the boss swung its giant sword at her. The sword had missed her by mere inches but instead had sliced her cloak; said item dissolving as its durability hit zero. Daphne took one look at the boss before she sent her own spell in retaliation.

" _Bombarda_!" she cried as a loud explosion impacted the boss, sending it hurling toward the other end of the room. Harry looked in awe as what his partner underneath looked like. She had long brown hair that fell down her back in cascading curls with stormy grey eyes. Underneath the cloak that she was previously wearing, she wore black robes and on her chest was a badge was a familiar snake in an emblem that had the word "SLYTHERIN" across it.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Harry stood up from where he sat and ran towards the boss; who was slowly recovering from the Blasting Curse that Daphne had sent it a few seconds ago.

"He's coming back!" Harry cried as he ran towards the boss to meet it head on; the Cerberus Lord's Zanbato high in the air, ready to slice and dice them the moment they collided.

Quickly sending up a _Protego_ , the boss swung at the black haired player, seemingly fighting against the invisible barrier that Harry had thrown up as a temporary defense. Daphne was quick to capitalize on the boss's vulnerability and sent a Reductor Curse at the boss which served to knock it back even more.

As soon as his shield's effect dropped to zero, Harry quickly engaged the boss; intercepting its wild swings with multiple spells and barriers before he miscalculated a swing from the boss and got nailed by the sharp giant blade. He was quickly sent flying from the force of the impact and got knocked into Daphne who was in the path of his trajectory as he slumped over from the hit.

Harry grunted in pain and looked towards his health and looked in anger as his health dropped below the fifty percent marker, and into the yellow zone. A shadow loomed over their downed forms as he looked above them and saw the boss looming over them, its sword raised and ready to bring it down. The boss roared and swung as Harry closed his eyes, ready to meet the end.

" _Diffindo_!"

The beta tester opened his eyes to see Romulus over him, his own wand raised as he intercepted the blow that if it was hit, was sure to bring their health to zero, just as it had done to Cedric. Romulus looked at him and Daphne.

"We'll hold him off until you kids recover!"

"You're…" Harry breathed.

The black haired player looked to see a hoard of other reinvigorated players charging and launching their own spells at the boss, who either sliced or deflected them with it's over-sized zanbato. It suddenly swung and slammed the blade into multiple players, Romulus included, and jumped in the air, ready to make mincemeat of the players who were suffering from its blow.

Harry however was quick on the uptake. Grabbing his wand, he silently prayed for Romulus's forgiveness as he jumped on said man's back and propelled himself upward, ready to meet the Cerberus Lord head on; said boss roaring at him all the way. He gave his own roar in return as he cried " _Reducto_!.

The blue bolt of light intercepted the boss's flight path, and slammed right onto the boss's middle head; the Cerberus Lord sent to the ground from the blast of the curse.

The moment his feet touched solid ground one more, Harry dashed forward to meet Tertius, in what he hoped to be the final clash. If he were to draw the battle any longer, the boss would gain more chances to strike any of them down. Daphne was quick to match his movements, running alongside him, her wand tightly gripped in her hand.

"One more attack Daphne! Let's finish it off!"

Daphne nodded at him. "Understood!"

Tertius was once again standing, however, it seemed to be leaning on its zanbato for support. That, however, served to help very little as the boss gave a battle cry and rushed to meet them once again; this time aiming to finish the players once and for all.

Quick to knockback the boss, Harry quickly casted his Knockback Jinx, the spell rendering the boss with the Stun effect. Rapidly switching, Daphne swapped with Harry; sending out her own Reductor Curse. Daphne, yet again, switched with Harry; said teen casting his own Severing Charm. They continued to do this as the boss cried out in agony as it was bombarded by spells again and again.

Seeing that the boss only had one HP remaining, Harry quickly casted his last spell; hoping to end it all with one final decisive strike. Pointing his wand, he channeled all his willpower into his last spell as he cried out "SECTUMSEMPRA!"

* * *

 **And done! Hope you liked it, I'm not that good with battle scenes. Sorry, that's why I need a beta reader!**

 **Anyway, now that I'm done with my ranting, please review. It won't hurt you!**

 **BTW, don't forget the spell track. The reason some of the players knew high level spells was because of this particular function. Harry was a former beta tester so it would be easy to understand that he would know some high level spells himself.**

 **Ja ne!**


	6. Apologizes and Re-writes

**I'm here to inform you that due to my schedule, I will not be able to update at any time soon. However, I do plan to re-write this story at some point; it's just that I have a lot on my plate, my finals, my part-time job and all my requirements that are due. Sorry, but I will most likely rewrite this story at some point after August. And my grandma just died so I'm kinda on the block right now...**

 **Again, I'm sorry.**


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